Destructive Lust Reborn
by Vee R. Tsudu
Summary: I've been falling for so long now...am I still alive? They let me fall...why...did they leave me to die?..Traitors..I shall have my vengance..." Rated for violence and death. Please read and review.
1. And So I begin

_**Destructive Lust Reborn**_

_By TrebleX_

__

_**Chapter 1:And so I begin...**_

**__**

**__**

He fell through the air at a rapid pace, his limb flailing about in the air almost lifelessly as the wind roared about his form, dropping at unsurmountable velocity from the confines of space. His obsidian fur was ruffled terribly by this time, blades of zephyr seeming to slice through his body in numerous places as he leaked out a damask solution, which trailed his falling body in morbidly beautiful streams. His crimson oculars remained half closed from weakness, unable to move his jaw to mutter a single further word, most energy now sucked out of him. His phalanges twitched slightly, a slight sense of touch still available in his right manus. He couldn't see what it was, but he was holding something...what was it? His digits trailed a little against the object's surface, noticing quite a few edges to it. He soon came to realize what it was...one of the chaos emeralds. They were all pretty much the same shape, so what colour it was he had no real idea. He still felt a little energy left in him, perhaps he could save himself from impending death upon collision with Earth. One last chance...this was all he had...but no. He would wait, patience was vital. If he did it now, he'd probably use up the last of his energy and kill himself anyway. So, he needed to wait until he was at least about 500,000 feet from the terrain below. Then he would use the chaos emerald in his grasp and attempt to save himself. Until then though, he let himself fall at the same amazing velocity as before, not bothering with the carmine fluids that gushed upward from the tears in his flesh.

How much time passed by, he had no idea. He'd mostly lost all sense, feeling as if he were on the verge of death. Then his crimson eyes forced themselves slightly further open as he noticed something...a cloud. This was about as close as need be, he'd decided, grasping the chaos emerald firmly in his metacarpus. His lips were dry as they slowly moved to form two short words. "Chaos..." He whispered weakly, his voice seeming to resonate around the empty sky around him. " He finished, a flash of garish energy beginning to overcome his entire body, before it was entirely dilapidated. He hadn't planned to go anywhere in particular, all he'd intended to do was land somewhere, anywhere, on the ground. Luckily, that he had managed, he felt soft grass grazing against his chest as he lay on the topsoils, turning his head to the side and laying it down. His oculars fell fully shut now, unable to keep awake any longer as the lack of energy overcame him entirely.

Further hours passed, ten to say the very least, but of course he had no knowledge of exactly how long it had been. He awoke to find himself laying in a puddle of his own blood. He coughed a little, a mixture of saliva and further carmine fluids escaping his lips. He needed some form of nutrition, just water would do him fine for now, but it was vital that he gained it as soon as possible. Struggling into a position upon all fours rather than laying down, crimson iris' gazed around where he had ended up. Luck was on his side, there was a river merely a few feet ahead of him and it looked pretty clean. Continuing to move in a crawl, he traversed the topsoils at a steady pace until reaching the flow of water. Shuffling a little once more, he carefully moved onto his knees before it as either manus was sunk beneath the translucent surface. Cupping his hands he rose them once more, a trickle of the fluid managing to escape between his digits, though not much. The water was risen to his lips and slowly in-taken, tilting his head back a little to allow it to flow down the throat with greater ease.

He repeated this action a few times, until he felt he'd regained a benevolent amount of strength in his body. Shuffling for a final time, he stumbled to his feet, crimson oculars now open fully as they gazed around the area he'd found himself in. He was surrounded by an enclosure of trees, their leaves a beautiful malachite showing they had grown well. So, that meant there was enough water here to sustain his life probably, but what about food? Hopefully some of these many trees would have fruits, something to further help him regain his strength. The sunlight shed through a couple of trees ahead of him, almost giving the impression of a heavenly footpath, leading him to what he needed. Some might of seen it as a sign, though he however merely disregarded it and walked around a little, glancing up between the branches of each of the trees. There had to be something, didn't there? He came to an abrupt halt as his gaze set upon contrasting hues to the usual malachite and ochre. A kind of bloody colour, or at least that's how he saw it, whereas others would probably say the hue reminded them of roses. That didn't matter right now though, all that mattered was obtaining this fruit, which he saw as a relatively easy task.

In an alacritous motion, he pushed his right heel apropos the thick ochre trunk firmly, a few shards of bark exploding from their place as the tree shook. In turn, this caused the tree's fruit to collapse with perfect accuracy into his hand. He wasn't the ultimate life form for nothing. Rising it to his lips, he bit into the apple and took a large chunk, making sure to chew on it a lot before swallowing. He wasn't back to full strength yet, and he could possibly die with ease were he to choke. He took his time as he ate the fruit, leaning against the now shattered area of the trunk as he in took the fruit. As he did so, he also began to think of what he should do next. That hedgehog he'd worked beside, and the others that he'd worked with, they hadn't done a thing to try and help him, had they? No, they'd left him to die...they were now seen as backstabbers in his eyes. Vengance...yes, that's what he would do. To begin with, the easier targets, and lastly would be that fake blue hedgehog. Sonic..the traitor who could of saved him..but didn't. In the end, he would annihilate that backstabber too, along with all others who opposed him. He'd fulfilled Maria's wish and given everyone the chance to be happy, but they'd merely thrown it away. So now, he would take their lives which he had once helped to save.

Upon finishing, he discarded the apple core with a soft flick of the wrist as it left his grasp. So, now he just had to find the others. Who would be his first target? He thought about that, trying to work out who would be easiest to destroy first. Sonic was going to be the last target, he had already decided that. That two tailed fox...no..not yet, he'd be with Sonic probably. Eggman? No...he'd have to go through a base. Rouge or Knuckles, then. From what he'd seen, both had a fair amount of strength in them. Yet, Rouge seemed to be much smarter than that echidna. Now then, the order for destroying them was pretty much decided. First he would deal with Knuckles, and then Rouge. After that he'd get the fox boy, Tails, he'd heard him referred to, hopefully he could get the child alone. Last but one was Eggman, and the many robots that would probably be defending him. Finally...that fake blue hedgehog, Sonic. Soon, all of those traitors would be gone for good.

He walked once again to the gushing stream, gazing down into it at such an angle he could see his reflection almost perfectly. He really was in quite a bad state, covered with numerous scars across his body. No wonder he'd awoken in a puddle of blood. They'd stopped leaking out his vital fluids by now though, and they had formed to scars. It would probably be a little while before he could actually make an attack on Knuckles, and of course he'd have to find some way up to Angel Island. Chaos Control would probably work, but it would also take up a little of his energy. Still, it should be okay really, he was already healing at a good speed. Just another hour he'd wait, and then he would go and take care of his first target. For the time being, he tried to work out just where exactly he was, wondering around through the enclosure of trees in a random direction.

The trees were of various types and heights, though overall there was a canopy above his head at about 23 foot. The topsoils beneath his feet were covered with a layer of luscious verdigris grass. There had to be a place somewhere for him to find out where he was, Angel Island needed to be at least in view before he could use the chaos emerald to get there. Either of his retractile batted away random branches that stood in his way, continuing to traverse topography at a steady pace rather than his usual run. A few beams of light shred through the trees a little farther ahead of him, revealing what would seem like the edge of Earth were that what he was on. However, he was not, for below him he saw Earth along with waves that gently crashed against the cliff sides. So he was on some kind of island in the sky, right? Angel Island was the only one he knew of...so that had to be where he was. Yet this place seemed a little different somehow, he just felt as if he had to be somewhere else other than there.

There was of course one way that may help him find out where he was, and that was the small river he'd drank from earlier. Perhaps it would be possible to trail the river back far enough to work out just exactly where he was. He began walking back the way he'd come at a slightly faster pace than before, avoiding any low hanging branches with simple and effortless leaps and rolls, depending on their height. He slowed to a halt once more as he reached the gently flowing river, standing over it as he gazed down. A few ripples gave hint as to which way would be upstream, as well as reflecting his already fully healed body. The ultimate life form, obviously he was going to heal quickly. To the right seemed to be upstream, so that's where he would go. He slowly began to walk upward beside the lake, not wanting to move too fast in case there were some form of traps.

Each of his footsteps seem to make the grass crunch louder than it had previously, but perhaps he was just currently more aware than before. In his mind he continued to plan out just exactly how he would deal with the previously labeled targets. Of course he would also have to be prepared for them to find him instead, which he was. Yes, he knew perfectly well what he was going to do in any scenario. The winds seemed to pick up a little and ruffle his fur, along with the lush blades of verdigris that covered the topsoils. Beams of light began to shred through the trees a little ahead of him again, he must of been near to wherever he was heading.

Soon he reached the edge of the water, which was merely pouring downward off the side of the cliff. He must of made a mistake in calculating upstream, and walked downstream instead. However it had proved to be just as helpful to him by walking this way, for there was something else now just about in view; another floating island. Ah, that had to be Angel Island then, partially hidden behind distant fog.This island though, then where was he now? So far he'd seen not a single other creature in the area, perhaps he himself could inhabit this area. It had the basic things needed for survival, so he'd be fine. Anyway, that was beside the point, right now it was time for him to encounter his first victim.

He clutched the chaos emerald in his hand firmly, raising it before him as his lips curled to a dark smirk. "Now...it begins.." He whispered darkly, light reflecting beautifully off the green jewel which he held in his palm. "Chaos Control!" He called out, his body suddenly engulfed by a powerful light of energy before vanishing. Within merely the same second, he re-appeared upon the island that was once in the distance. Now he was here on Angel Island then, this desolate place with little more than that echidna sat upon his emerald, guarding it. He slowly began to walk up the steps toward the altar, allowing each footstep to resonate a slight sound, nearing his first victim at a steady pace.


	2. Extinction Of The Echidna

_**Destructive Lust Reborn**_

**__**

_By TrebleX_

__

_**Chapter 2: Extinction Of The Echidna.**_

**__**

The light struck against the master emerald as it seemed to glimmer a little in the sunlight, reflecting a few beams of the same blazing hue in various directions. Atop it sat a red echidna, entirely silent as he remained aware as ever. His dim blue oculars flickered slightly as he heard the sound of footsteps. Someone was here, but how was that possible? No planes or ships had passed by as far as he was aware of, and right now he couldn't really think of any other possible ways of accessing the island.

Knuckles swung his legs slightly before leaping from the master emerald, landing with a soft thud upon the terra before himself. He looked around cautiously, his fists clenched as he readied himself for any oncoming attackers. Probably some of Eggman's robots coming for the master emerald he thought, or at least to begin with he did. He then realised that there most likely would of been a clang resonating from each footstep, which there wasn't. Well that didn't matter, he still kept cautious as he moved into a fighting stance, eyes constantly darting around in search of the one who he could hear approaching.

Black spines were the first thing to come into view as someone continued walking up the stairs to the altar, black spines with crimson streaks. Wait...it couldn't be, could it? Surely he'd died from that fall, right the way up there in space. Knuckles squinted his eyes slightly with some disbelief as to what he was seeing, those dark fiery crimson eyes now also visible as they glared darkly toward him. Foolishly the echidna let his guard down a little, believing that Shadow was now an ally...a mistake he'd soon regret making. "Shadow...?" Knuckles asked curiously, still unsure if it really was him. Soon the dark hedgehog was right up at the altar, merely a few inches from the red echidna as a dark smirk crossed his lips.

In some confusion as he regained caution, Knuckles stepped back slightly and gave a look of concern. "What're you, doing?" He asked with a slight hint of worry in his voice, though of course he believed he could win any fight against him with ease. However, being so egotistical and not admitting that he could possibly lose and giving up, would probably be his downfall.

"Vengance...begins now..." Shadow said as a slight, dim laugh escaped the confines of his throat, his misty red eyes narrowing slightly at the red echidna. He reared up his right hand as he clenched it firmly, ready to deal the first blow to Knuckles who still seemed to be suffering a little of confusion, to his advantage.

Suddenly he thrust his fist forth, impacting heavily apropos the jaw line of knuckles as he was sent upward from the powerful uppercut, taking much more damage due to his previous confusion and lowered defence. Of course though now that Shadow had given the first hit, Knuckles would immediately start fighting back without a second thought. A trickle of carmine fluid escaped his jaws from the powerful hit as he flipped slightly, so as to land once more upon both feet. As soon as the red echidna landed, he lunged forward and swung his right fist toward the obsidian hedgehog's gut. However he easily evaded this his with a leap slightly into the air, bringing his left heel to Knuckles' left cheek with a benevolent force exerted. This caused the echidna to collapse aside to the terrain heavily, some of it exploding about his form upon the collision.

He wasn't one to back down from a fight though, not ever. Knuckles quickly leaped back to his feet and began throwing a flurry of punches at the hedgehog, who merely leaped backward and slightly aside from each one, as if to taunt him. Upon reaching the edge of the island, the dark one leaped forward suddenly, pressing a foot to the rear of Knuckles' cranium and causing him to stagger right to the edge. He quickly stopped himself, another step further and Knuckles would of fallen. The red echidna quickly turned around once again, suddenly whipping both of his arms up to a defensive position as a leg swung at him. That hit he managed to block, but he wasn't fast enough for the next movement. Both of his wrists were gripped firmly as he was lifted into the air, before Shadow flung him aside with great power. He smashed into the side of the altar as rubble exploded out of it, some of the stone forming to shards upon being smashed, which permeated his flesh in some parts. Knuckles was rapidly weakening, and he was beginning to lose more and more of his bodily fluids.

The echidna, with some fault in his steps, once again staggered to his feet and looked toward Shadow through slightly blurred vision. Why....why was he doing this? He didn't have time to ask that question though, never mind have it answered. The black hedgehog was already running toward him again with his right fist reared up. Believing that the best form of defence was a good offense, Knuckles ran up in the same way. When they were in a greater proximity, both thrust their fist forward and connected with the other's gut. Time seemed to halt for a moment as both exhaled heavily from the sudden impact, before being sent backward in opposing directions. Shadow quickly regained his composure and was once more on both feet, but Knuckles however due to his already fairly weakened state, lay there against the dented altar wall. Shards of rubble lay around his feet as he looked weakly to Shadow once again, further damask fluids leaking from his jaw.

Was this...really going to be the end for him? He coughed slightly as a mixture of carmine and saliva escaped onto the floor, breathing heavily and shakily after that. Shadow could easily see how weak the echidna was by this point, and didn't give a second thought to finishing him off. In a blur of ebony fur, he launched himself forward and impacted heavily against Knuckles chest. A roar of pain escaped Knuckles' throat as searing pain consumed his entire body. He could feel it, Shadow was slowly...tearing him apart. The spines were lacerating his body as carmine fluids erupted outward from him violently. Soon his body collapsed to the floor, lifeless as Shadow stood atop it with some pride.

The obsidian hedgehog was now partially showered with the bodily fluid of Knuckles, and he smashed his heel heavily down against the echidna's neck as the ivory bone snapped violently. There...for this target at least he was satisfied. Just to finish his work, he'd do one more thing though. Shadow walked up the toward the master emerald and gazed at it for a moment, before raising his own emerald before him. The master emerald was more powerful than the other seven, and he could definitely use it's power. His hand trembled slightly as either emerald gave off a slight garish glow...it was working, he could feel it. A stream of energy connected between the two emeralds as the entire island began to tremble with some force, all energy being extracted from the master emerald. The island began to fall from it's place in the sky as the master emerald lost it's original colour, becoming a dark grey instead. He could already feel a greater power contained in the emerald he held, and he would use this to his advantage.

With a single last look of disgust at the echidna, he called out powerfully. "Chaos Control!" With a sudden flash of energy that took over his entire form, he vanished, once more appearing on the other floating island he had originally found. Before going for the next target he would clean himself of this rotten echidna blood, so as to fool and hopefully confuse his next target to begin with. He didn't think he needed any advantages to win, but he would still use them if he could. Now the first target had been annihilated, and next would be Rouge the bat. She would probably be located somewhere in Dry Lagoon he thought, and could easily be attracted with the gem he currently held. This was it...things were really starting to get moving, and he had already destroyed one target with ease.


	3. Haunting Memories

_**Destructive Lust Reborn**_

_By TrebleX_

_**Chapter 3: Haunting Memories.**_

Shadow leaned firmly against a thick ochre hue tree trunk, his gaze upturned towards the slowly dimming skies. "Soon night will fall, and the thief shall be thieved from." Shadow muttered to himself with a dark smirk. "Yes...for I shall steal her life." A slight dim chuckle escaped the confines of Shadow's throat as his lips parted.

Night had pretty much entirely fallen by now, and it was about time that the ebony furred hedgehog got to work. He held out the malachite hue chaos emerald before himself, sparkling a little with the amazing amount of energy that was contained within it. He outstretched his arm fully ahead of him. "Chaos Control!" Shadow called out, a sudden blinding flash of garish energy overcoming his form and engulfing it completely before both vanished into the wind.

Meanwhile a busty, jewel craving bat walked through Dry Lagoon, enjoying the cool night breeze as it beat about her form. A smirk came across her lips, fangs protruding from either side of her mouth as she thought of the next place she would invade to get her hands on some sort of jewel. She was interrupted from this train of thought however, as a black hedgehog walked out of the shadows ahead of her.

"Sh-Shadow?" Rouge stuttered in amazement, almost falling over herself from the sudden shock, as if she'd seen a ghost. He in return merely smirked a little, coming to a halt as he stood not far from her, his eyes fixated upon hers. She wasn't sure what to do, she was terrified as it was, due to thinking that the one who stood before her was dead. "H-How did you-?" Rouge began to inquire, but was quickly cut off by Shadow speaking.

"How did I survive? Thanks to my own power, not that any of you cared to try and save me." The ebony furred hedgehog said with hatred, his eyes narrowing a little as he glared towards her.

"Shadow, I...I would of saved you if I could, I really would!" Rouge replied urgently, continuing to back away from him a little. She was fearful of that dark smirk on his lips, and the way his eyes were narrowed towards her.

"Liar, you expect me to believe that!?" Shadow called out angrily, leaping into a run towards her. Without having the time to react, Rouge felt his fist impact heavily with her cheek. She was sent hurtling through the air, and crashed into one of the few pillars that protruded from the water around them. He could of easily just left her to collapse into the water and drown, but he didn't want to do that...no....he wanted to make them suffer.

As Rouge began to fall from the indentation the impact had made in the pillar, Shadow lunged forwards and grabbed her, then placing his feet to the pillar as he leaped from it. As soon as the two left it, the pillar collapsed into the water and caused a large eruption of water. Rouge groaned in pain as she was thrown to the terrain in the center of all the water, looking up weakly with her eyes only managing to stay half open.

Shadow landed with his legs either side of her chest as he kneeled down, retracting his right fist and readying another blow to her face. "Sh-Shadow...please..." Rouge whispered painfully as she looked up at him. The hedgehog's eyes widened, his fingers slowly uncurling from a fist as he trembled a little. That memory from so long ago returned to his mind again.

He could see it now, Maria was there, just about ready to die and he was unable to help her. She was giving her life to save him, allowing him to escape to Earth in that capsule. She pressed the buttons weakly, looking towards him fondly as she whispered. "Shadow....please...for me, for all the people on that planet..."

Shadow quickly shook his head, moving his hands to hold his head in them in his state of confusion. "No. No. Maria!" Shadow called out in pain, these memories once again haunting his mind painfully. Rouge was far too hurt to do anything, and merely lay there as her eyes slowly fell shut. He could of taken that chance to finish her off, but no, these memories were too much, his head hurt.

Knowing that it wasn't safe for him to be here probably, he yelled out as he grasped his chaos emerald. "Chaos control!" That same old flash of garish energy overcame his form, before vanishing along with him and re-appearing on his own found island.

Shadow collapsed to his knees when he got there, allowing the chaos emerald to fall from his grasp to his side as he buried his face in his hands. That same memory played over and over and over again in mind, when he had lost Maria. It hurt him so much, he trembled a little as these images haunted him once again. Why, why? Why was he suffering from this again, now of all times!?

He was a terrible, emotional wreck, something he wasn't very often. However this brought even more anger to him, thinking of how Maria had given her life to save the people of this pathetic planet...but they didn't care at all, did they!? Shadows painful cries slowly turned to snarls and roars of rage, quickly snatching up the chaos emerald once again in his right hand. He was going to go now, right to Station Square, and he was going to bring hell to them.

Shadow rose the chaos emerald above himself, his crimson eyes seeming darker than ever as hatred overcame his mind entirely. "Chaos control!" Shadow yelled out once again, his anger making himself and therefore the chaos magic ever stronger. The dim garish glow was much more violent and brighter as it overcame his form this time, before sweeping his body away into the winds, leading him to where he wished to go to. It was time he made even more of them pay...


	4. Attack On The City

_**Destructive Lust Reborn**_

_By TrebleX_

_**Chapter 4: Attack On The City.**_

He trembled a little as he once more got to his feet, still shaking with the anger and hatred that these haunting and painful memories had renewed. In fact, the anger had brought his power to a whole new level, for the chaos emerald's power was slowly being drained into his own body. His muscles seemed to expand a little over his entire body, his eyes fading to a hazier damask hue, feeling more extreme power begin to pulsate within him. Sure this wasn't quite him turning hyper, but this rage was making him extremely strong. Not only that, his mind was washed over suddenly with new abilities, more destructive ways to use the chaos energy.

"Now...I shall show them all." Shadow said in a darker tone than usual, giving a slight dim laugh as he let the chaos emerald fall from his grasp. He didn't need it any more, and it had now faded to a dark grey hue instead. The power of that chaos emerald, and of the master emerald, was now contained within his body. With a simple snap of his fingers, and not a single word having to be muttered, chaos control overcame his body and whipped it away into the winds with a single flash of light.

The black furred hedgehog reappeared atop one of Station Square's higher buildings, looking down upon the people that walked around carelessly. He hated them, every last one of them, they'd probably never had to suffer as muc has he had...until now. He blamed it all on these...the death of his beloved Maria, and he would avenge her, no matter what. Pressing his weight down on both of his feet, he suddenly launched himself forwards and landed heavily in the middle of one of the roads, planting a fist to the concrete before himself also. The ground quaked a little from his powerful impact, and it partially erupted upwards. This caused cars to swerve to a halt, the people in them looking to try and see what had caused the sudden tremor.

Some dust that had arisen from the sudden impact, and as the wind slowly trailed it away, Shadow was revealed to the many people around him as he glared at them all with a hating stare. A few people instantly pulled out their phones, recognising him and wishing to notify news stations and the likes. Others merely stared in disbelief at how someone of his posture could so easily deal that much damage to hard concrete.

Another dark smirk played upon Shadow's lips, before he reared up his hands and begin to collect chaos energy between them. He glanced forwards towards a line of cars ahead of him, instantly gaining terrified stares in return, crowds of people leaping out of their cars in fear. Giving them just enough time to move out of the way, he then unleashed an almight blast of chaos energy that tore through the center of an entire row of cars. It then spread outwards a little until the material of the vehicles was entirely annihilated. People looked on in fear before everyone soon ran from their vehicles and fled from the streets into their homes. This made Shadow laugh a little at their pathetic attempt to escape, before raising his hands upwards as he began to gather further chaos energy.

Little did he know, his act of destruction was already being broadcast to his previously assigned targets. Tails and Eggman were both gazing at the screen in utter disbelief at their own places, not only had Shadow seemed to of 'returned from the dead', but his powers had reached new levels. "Sonic, come quick!" Tails called into the other room, where Sonic had been relaxing. The blue hedgehog walked in to the room after being summoned so urgently.

"Hey Tails, what's wro-?" Sonic began, but was cut off immediately as he heard the television speak the name of his old rival.

"Shadow The Hedgehog, said to of previously aided world reknowned hero Sonic The Hedgehog in saving the world from the ARK's collision, has been seen once more alive. It seems also that he is intent of destruction of Station Square." Said the woman on the television, doing her best not to show her own fear.

"Shadow's still alive!? No way, this HAS to be one of Eggman's tricks!" Sonic said with some surprise.

"You're right, we have to go and stop whatever it really is, Sonic! It could destroy the whole of Station Square!" Tails replied urgently. He gained a slight nod of Sonic, who raced out of the door at top speed, heading towards Station Square where all of the action was taking place. He didn't want to take Tails with him, not this time, it was far too dangerous.

Sonic's amazing speed wasn't enough however, because Shadow had already launched a powerful beam of chaos energy upwards into the sky. The few that had the guts to even watch him through their windows wondered what exactly he was doing, and they soon found out. At a certain point, the beam stopped going up and exploded into thousands of shards of chaos energy, which began to rain down all over Station Square. As each one connected with something, it said ablaze, and the flames rapidly began to spread across the town. Shadow laughed darkly as he once again began to be surrounded by a blinding white light. "Enjoy your last moments, I shall avenge Maria's death by making you all suffer, pathetic humans!" Shadow yelled, his voice full of loathing and rage, yet also some satisfaction as he vanished into the air.

The blue hedgehog soon reached the scene, but came to a sudden halt and gazed on in horror. Everything was on fire, there were even people in that state. He wanted to help them, he really did, but he had to go and find Eggman and stop this chaos. At least, that's how he thought he was going to stop all of this, but little did he know that Eggman was as clueless as he was. Hesitantly taking off away from the city before the flames caught onto him also, Sonic began to head off in search of the evil scientist's base...


	5. Encounter

_**Destructive Lust Reborn**_

By TrebleX

_**Chapter 5: Encounter.**_

Dr. Eggman sat there, still gazing at the television in astonishment. Was that really Shadow he had just seen? That power...it was amazing! Perhaps soon Shadow would return to him, and with that power...annihilating Sonic would be easy! Soon...soon he would be able to carry out his life long dream of building the Eggman empire. At least, that's what he thought, but that hedgehog had other plans. Of course Eggman would be prepared for this, he quickly moved towards another room of his base.

Currently his base was still that pyramid, as it was spacious enough to contain what he had created. A pair of large metal doors slid open, revealing a room with tubes along the sides, each one containing a clone of Shadow which he had created. Sure they weren't as fast or powerful as the original, but a group of them could surely take him 't they? He pressed a switch to the side of him, each of the tubes slowly opening as the fake Shadow's seemed to awaken. Each one stepped out of the tube, landing perfectly on it's feet and turning to face their master. The one before him was a little different to the others, it had entirely red eyes. This was the one he had assigned as their leader, in case he never needed to send them all out at once.

"Right, listen up! If and when the real Shadow comes here, I want you to try and stop him by all means necessary, but don't kill him!" Eggman commanded, looking across them all.

"Understood, sir." Their leader had said, Eggman in return nodded a little and returned to his main area, in order to keep an eye on his security cameras.

Elsewhere Tails was wondering around alone, heading namely to the floating island. He had just recently noticed it had fallen, he had been too distracted before to realise. Tails whirled his two tails behind himself, propelling himself at a greater speed towards Angel Island. When he did eventually reach it, he stopped in shock at what he saw, kneeling down next to Knuckles' body. "Kn-Knuckles!? Are....you alive?" Tails asked worriedly, hoping to gain some sort of reply. He waited a few minutes...nothing. Tears welled up in the corners of the young vulpine's eyes, and he shook the red echidna a little before resting his head in his lap. "Knuckles...?" Tails asked again hopefully, trying his best not to cry. Another few minutes passed by...still nothing happened. That was it, he really was dead. "No..." Tails whispered, unable to hold his tears back any longer. The poor young fox broke down as his tears soaked his fur, collapsing onto Knuckles' chest and whimpering at the loss of his friend.

The black hedgehog was currently speeding through the deserty at an amazing velocity, the sand firing up behind him as he raced forwards. There were a few guard robots around the desert, but he easily bypassed them all, not detected by even one. A few miles behind him a blue streak also dashed across the desert hastily, taking down a few robots as it went with ease, despite slowing him slightly. Shadow continued directly ahead, not bothering to look for an entrance to the pyramid base as chaos energy began to form around his body. Upon colliding with the wall of the pyramid, it merely exploded into thousands of shards around him and he entered. Sonic on the other hand wasn't quite so reckless, he decided to run around the pyramid and search for a way to sneak in. He didn't intend to make his prescence known immediately, just so he could investigate further in the Shadow matter.

Eggman almost leaped out of his skin as a plate of metal came crashing down from the wall behind him, taking his attention from the television with reports on Shadow's damage. The bloated human turned around to see the ebony furred hedgehog himself standing before him, one hand held out towards him. "Doctor...your time has come." Shadow said darkly, chaos energy once again rushing to his palm.

"No Shadow, wait! Guards, get in here, now!" Eggman shouted urgently. There was a sudden sound of metal clanging against the floor, as if robots running. The hundreds of Shadow clones had quickly made it into the room and surrounded the original, ready to attack him upon command.

"Now listen to me Shadow, and listen well. Agree to work for me, and I'll allow you to survive, understood?" The doctor called to him over the many clones, merely gaining a slight laugh from Shadow in return. Knowing that meant he had declined, the robots quickly leaped forwards and piled down on top of him, burying him alive. That is however, until a few shards of chaos energy erupted through the cracks. Then with a sudden outward blast the robots were sent flying away from him with ease, smashing against the walls with extreme force and exploding. Last standing was their leader, still standing before the doctor as a sort of shield. Shadow's eyes flickered and sparked with chaos energy a little from the sides, gathering energy once more between his hands as he reared them up a little.

"It's time to say goodbye, doctor." Shadow whispered dimly, before letting loose another poweful blast that made Eggman and his Shadow clone seemingly just dissapear. This was true power you see, he could make someone vanish from existance without a trace if he wanted to.

Unknown to Shadow, his act had been watched fom above in a ventilation shaft by none other than Sonic The Hedgehog. Due to misplacing himself though, Sonic fell out of the shaft and just about managed to hit the ground on his feet, facing Shadow. Trying to act as if he'd planned it all, Sonic glared towards Shadow, who in return merely smirked back. "Shadow! You'll pay for what you did to Station Square!" Sonic yelled angrily.

"Try it, faker." Shadow replied, still grinning dimly as he leaped towards Sonic, who in returned leaped towards him...


	6. Hedgehog Rivalry

_**Destructive Lust Reborn**_

By TrebleX

_**Chapter 6: Hedgehog Rivalry**_

The blue and black streaks dashed towards each other in mid-air, both extremely focused on their opponent. As Sonic thrust right fist forwards, Shadow twisted his body slightly and caused the fist to merely graze his cheek. With that he then brought his heel to smash down against Sonic's spinal chord, making the blue hedgehog collapse heavily onto the metal floor. The black hedgehog then leaped down to him, throwing another fist downwards towards Sonic, though he quickly lunged up in return and knocked Shadow backwards a little, before he also moved back and got into a cautious fighting stance.

Without a word of warning, Shadow quickly lunged forwards again and powered his fists up with chaos energy, making them move faster and hit harder. Sonic in return reared up a fist, getting ready to hit Shadow as soon as he was within striking range. This idea was cancelled out however, as just before entering his striking range, Shadow seemingly just vanished into thing air. Chaos control was easy for him to carry out now, so he re-appeared behind Sonic and unleashed a flurry of punches into his opponent's back. Sonic cried out in pain, each hit seeming to echo out a crack of the bones, before the final hit was delivered, sending him reeling forwards and smashing into a wall.

Sonic was already greatly weakened, and he could only conjour up the strength to get to his hands and knees. Shadow narrowed his eyes at this futile attempt to get back up, walking over and raising his foot into Sonic's stomach. The blue hedgehog groaned in pain as he was launched aside, before landing in a heap a few feet from his original place. "Hmph, pathetic faker. You're just as easy as that echidna was to kill." Shadow stated, still a dark grin playing upon his lips. Sonic's eyes widened immediately at this statement.

"Echidna...killed? You...you killed Knuckles!?" Sonic yelled out angrily, turning his head to glare at Shadow as his spines flared upwards.

"Yes, I think that was his name. Why, have a problem?"

"You...why you!" Sonic growled, yellow streaks beginning to form in the center of his spines before spreading outwards. This rage was effecting him, he was turning super without even having the chaos emeralds in his grasp. Sonic's eyes gained a dark crimson hue as a yellow flame surrounded him, completing the transformation as he slowly got to his feet once again.

Shadow furrowed a brow, hoping that now he might get a little more entertainment out of the other hedgehog. With a simple snap of his fingers, a golden flame surrounded Shadow as he became hyper using the chaos energy stored with him. With a sudden burst of power, he launched upwards through the roof and tore a hole straight through it, hovering high up in the air as he awaited Super Sonic to follow. Super Sonic did so, also tearing a hole straight through the roof of the base with great ease before stopping and hovering opposite Hyper Shadow, about level with him.

"I hope you're ready to die, faker." Hyper Shadow said darkly, dashing forwards.

"You'll pay for what you did to Knuckles!" Super Sonic yelled back, his voice full of anger as he also launched himself forwards with amazing velocity.

The two of them collided powerfully, sending out a wave of pure power from the collision. The seemingly fireballs of gold and silver continued beating against each other heavily, the silver slowly beginning to show it had the upper hand. Super Sonic was slowly but surely being pushed back by this amazing force Shadow had, how was he supposed to beat him? For now he didn't know, so he continued trying to send Shadow back instead, sweating a little from the effort. Shadow smirked a little though, suddenly retracting his right hand and then smashing it into the opponent's stomach. Super Sonic was winded and suddenly exhaled heavily, sent reeling away a little. Using chaos control yet again, Hyper Shadow vanished and re-appeared behind Super Sonic as he was still flying backwards from the force. A moment before the two of them would of collided, he rose slightly and brought a heel down onto Super Sonic's chest, and then another, and another. He did it repeatedly, beating down on Super Sonic's chest and bringing him down to the ground. When close enough, he delivered the final kick which sent Super Sonic through another wall of the pyramid and into yet another electronic filled room. The searing pain caused him to fall out of super form, and he returned to his normal blue self, laying there barely able to move. Hyper Shadow flew in after him and landed a few feet away, about to finish him off when something happened.

When Sonic had been knocked into the room, he must of hit a switch of some sort, as a recorded video message appeared on the screen. "Maria..." Shadow whispered to himself, returning to his normal dark furred self as she appeared on the screen.

"Shadow, I hope this message can somehow get through to you. I beg of you Shadow, protect the people of the planet, and let them be happy, it's all I ask of you. I'm sorry we won't be together anymore Shadow, but I'll always love you." Maria said to the camera, before there was the sound of bullets firing and the camera turned itself off.

"Maria...no..what have I done?" Shadow whispered solemnly, raising his hands before himself and looking at them. "I'm sorry, Maria...but, but I'll put it all right. Just watch me." With that, Shadow raised both of his hands into the air, and the chaos energy sparked violently from between them. To grant Maria's wish, he was sacrificing all the power he had gained. Suddenly a garish beam shot upwards from him and began to spread into a large sphere, slowly crossing the entire world. "Chaos Reverse!" Shadow called out, this was like Chaos Control, but it didn't transfer where he stood. No...this could turn back the hands of time, which it did.

Yes, it had worked, and only two people could remember that future which now was the past. Himself, and Sonic because of the rage he had felt. They were back at the point just after the ARK had been stopped from colliding with Earth, and Shadow was once more falling through space. Perhaps he was going to be left to die again, but he had completed his mission, so he would allow it to happen if necessary. That wasn't though, because Super Sonic still with his ability raced downwards as fast as he could. He didn't want Knuckles to have to die, and he just about managed to catch Shadow in his arms. Yes, he was weakened terribly, but he would survive. He'd guessed the reason for all that killing before was that Shadow felt betrayed, being left to die, so he didn't make that same mistake again.

Super Sonic once more flew up to the ARK, landing on the deck and walking in with Shadow in his arms. The others crowded around quickly. "Shadow...will he, be okay?" Rouge asked with some concern, raising her gaze from Shadow's flagging body to meet with Sonic's eyes.

"I hope so." Was all that Sonic replied with, not mentioning about what would of happened if he left Shadow to fall. The black hedgehog amazingly though, already managed to shift a little and open his eyes weakly.

"I'm...alive?" Shadow asked curiously, slowly moving to his feet as Sonic let him down. Rouge suddenly ran forwards and wrapped her arms around Shadow.

"You're okay!" She exclaimed happily, but then quickly stepping back a bit and blushing, realising what she was doing. Shadow gave a slight laugh and then grinned a little at Sonic, who returned the grin. They both remembered all that had happened perfectly, but neither ever spoke a word of it to anyone else.


End file.
